Food and beverage cooler



Nov. 19, 1963 Filed Sept. 29, 1961 W. D. HERRICK FOOD AND BEVERAGECOOLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 KO E: E & g

Nov. 19, 1963 w. D. HERRICK 3,111,014

FOOD AND BEVERAGE COOLER Filed Sept. 29, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent Ofiiice 3,1 1 L014 Patented Nov. 19, 1963 3,111,014 FOQDAND BEVERAGE COOLER Wallace D. Herrick, Wichita, Kane, assignor to TheColeman Company, Inc., Wichita, Kans., a corporation of Kansas FiledSept. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 141,7 68 7 Claims. (Cl. 62-462) This inventionrelates to a food and beverage cooler, and more specifically, to alight-weight portable unit for tnansporting and storing foods andbeverages in chilled condition.

An object of the present invention is to provide a light portable coolerwhich has its interior surfaces formed largely from non-corrosiveplastic materials. Another object is to provide a portable cooler inwhich a heavy block of ice may be carried for cooling purposes withoutdanger that movement of the blockas the cooler is shifted about willdamage the cooler or cause leakage of melted ice into the food storagearea thereof. A further object is to provide a cooler having anice-carrying tray equipped with a spigot for drawing off ice water fromthe tray, the spigot being cooperatively engageable with the cabinet toprevent damage to either the spigot or the tray, or to any other parts,as the ice slides about within the tray when the cabinet is moved about.

Another object is to provide a thin-walled light-weight plasticbeverage-and food storage cabinet in which substantial quantities of icemay be carried without danger that the flexible plastic walls of thecabinet, or the parts connected thereto, will become damaged duringtransit. In this connection, it is a specific object to provide a coolerhaving a spigot-equipped ice tray for-med from a single piece of toughbut flexible plastic material.

A still further object is to provide a plastic portable beverage andfood cooler equipped with means for securely maintaining a door of thecooler in firm cooperative engagement with a slidable tray to preventrelative movement of the tray within the cooler as the unit is movedabout.

Other objects will appear from the specification and drawings in which:4

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a food and beverage cooler embodyingthe present invention, the cooler being illustrated with the door inopen condition;

=FIGURE 2 is a front elevational View of the cooler with the door inclosed condition, the door being partly broken away to illustrate theice tray carried within the cabinet;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged broken vertical sectional view taken along line33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a still further enlarged fragmentary front elevational viewof the spigot provided by the coolers ice tray;

FIGURE 5 is a still further enlarged vertical sectional view taken alongline 5-5 of FIGURE 4 and illustrating the cooperative relationshipbetween the spigot, tray, and cabinet door;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the ice tray; 1'

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view of a portion of the, coolerillustrating the door anchoring means therefor;

FIGURE 8 is a broken perspective view illustrating the anchoring meansfor securing the door in closed condition.

In the cooler illustrated-in the drawings, the numeral 10 generallydesignates a cabinet having a chamber or compartment 11 and a frontopening 12. The cabinet is provided with top, bottom, rear and sidewalls 1316 and a hinged door 17 is mounted at the front side of thecabinet for closing the from opening 12.

Both the door 17 and the walls of the cabinet 10 are of double thicknessand contain heat-insulating material between their inner and outershells. As indicated in FIGURE 3, the inner shell 18 of the cabinet bodyand the inner shell 19 of the door are formed from a suitable plasticmaterial. Co-polymers of acrylonitrile, bu-ta diene and styrene havebeen found particularly effective because of their strength, toughnessand light weight; however, other plastic materials such as polystyrenemay also be used. Similar plastic materials may be used for the outershell 20 of the door and for the outer shell 21 of the cabinet bodyalthough it has been found desirable to form the cabinets outer shell 21from sheet aluminum. The insulation 22 within the door, as well as theinsulation 23 between the inner and outer shells of the cabinet body maybe any suitable heat-insulating material such as, for example, expandedpolystyrene beads, or rigid or semirigid plastic foams.

Within the upper portion of the cabinet chamber 11 is an ice tray 24 ofgenerally rectangular shape. The tray is formed from plastic material,such as the acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer used for the innershells of the door and cabinet body, and has an open top for receiving aquantity of ice either in the block form 25' illustrated in FIGURE 5, orin chipped, shaved or cubed form.

Viewed from above as in FIGURE 6, the tray tapers rearwardly so that itsrear wall 26 is narrower than its front wall 27. The front and rearwalls, as well as side walls 23, slope outwardly and upwardly so thatthe area of the top opening is greater than the area of bottom wall 29.The bottom wall is preferably provided with channels 30 radiatingoutwardly from a point adjacent the front central portion thereof forthe purposes of directing the flow of water and of rigidifying thebottom wall.

About its open top the ice tray is provided with an outwardly projectingperipheral flange 31. The portions of this flange extending along theupper edges of the side walls 2% are slidably supported by a pair ofhorizontally elongated slides or rails 32. While the rails areillustrated as being secured to the side walls 11 of the cabinet byrivets 33, it will be understood that any other suitable connectingmeans may be used. If desired, a cover 34 may be provided for the trayand may be supported upon the lateral flange 31.

The front wall of the ice tray is provided with a lower opening 35 whichis disposed intermediate side walls 28 and which supports a spigotassembly 36 (FIGURE 5). The spigot assembly includes a body or barre-l37 having a bore 38 receiving a reciprocal valve member 39 therein. Thevalve member is equipped at one end with a valve head 46 which has amaximum cross sectional dimension greater than the size of bore 38. Asealing ring 4 1 is carried by the head and bears tightly against theinner end of the spigot body when the valve is in closed condition.

The opposite end of the valve member is equipped with a push button 42.A compression spring 43 extends between the button and an insert member44 which slidably receives the shaft of the valve member and whichguides inward and outward axial movement of the valve member. The springurges the button outwardly and thereby normally maintains the valve headin seated condition.

It will be observed that the button is disposed within a recess 45provided at the outer end of the spigot body and that when the valve isclosed the outer surface of the button is substantially flush with theouter face 46 of the spigot body (FIGURE 5). Body 37 is provided with adischarge passage 47 which merges with the bore 38 so that when thebutton is depressed liquid may flow past the unseated valve head, theninto bore 33, and finally into discharge passage 47.

The spigot body extends through the opening 35 in the ice tray and istightly clamped in place by a locking nut 48 threaded upon the portionof the spigot disposed within the tray. The clamping force is exertedupon a resilient washer or sealing ring 49 which is grooved to fit theedge portion of the tray defining opening 3 5 and which engages both thelocking nut 48 on the inside of the tray and a shoulder 50' outside ofthe tray.

Referring to FIGURE 3, it will be observed that the horizontal distancebetween the rear edge of flange 3 1 of the ice tray and the front orouter face 46 of the spigot is substantially the same as the depth ofchamber 11 when the door of the cabinet is closed. Therefore, e11-gagement between the tray and its spigot and the inner surfaces of thecabinet prevents sliding movement of the tray along slides 32 when thecabinet is closed.

In normal use of the cooler, a block of ice is placed within the tray tomaintain foods and beverages in the lower portion of the cabinet inchilled and fresh condition. As the ice melts, spigot 36 may be used todrain off the ice water which may then either be discarded or used fordrinking purposes. When the ice-containing cabinet is moved about, theblock tends to slide in the plastic tray and it is the cooperativerelationship between the spigot assembly, tray, and cabinet whichprevents leakage of water and also prevents damage to the spigotassembly even when the spigot and its valve member are subjected toforceful engagement by the mass of ice.

Since the flat outer surface "of button 42 engages the inner shell 19 ofthe door when the cabinet is closed, outwardly directed force exerted bya block of ice against valve head 40 will be transmitted by the valvemember to the door and will not be resisted solely by theinterconnection between the spigot and the flexible plastic front wall27 of the tray. As a result, forces exerted by the block of ice whichmight otherwise severely strain the mounting of the spigot to the traysfront wall are effectively resisted by the thick insulated door. Theaction of the door in opposing outward impact forces exerted by thesliding block of ice is also important in view of the plasticconstruction of the spigot and the tray. Like the tray, the spigot maybe formed from a styrene polymer or from any other suitable plasticmaterial. While such materials are advantageous because of theirnoncorrosive properties, they are more flexible and weaker than mostmetals used for such purposes and, therefore, the interrelationshipbetween the tray, spigot and cabinet is important in achieving a durableand effective cooler unit.

The door 17 may be held in closed position by any suitable latchingmeans. The magnet and chain construction shown in FIGURES 7 and 8 hasbeen found particularly effective because of the locking force exertedby the chain which will maintain. the door in closed condition eventhough the block of ice contained within the tray '24 should shift aboutduring movement of the cabinet. In the illustration given, a magnet 51is mounted upon the edge of the door by means of a bracket 52. Amagnetically attnactable contact plate 53 is mounted along the edge ofthe cabinet vand is engaged by the magnet when the door is closed. Themagnet is concealed from the front of the door by a cover 54 which isprovided with a notched flange 55 and this notched flange is adapted toreceive beaded chain 56 as indicated in FIG- URE 7. One end of the chainis securely fixed to the cabinet at substantially the same elevation asthe notched flange of the cover 54. Thus, when the door is closed, auser may simply slip the chain into the notch of the flange to anchorthe parts together.

While in the foregoing I have disclosed an embodiment of the inventionin considerable detail for purposes of illustration, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that many of these details may bevaried without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim: 7

l. A food and beverage cooler comprising a cabinet having a front door,a flexible plastic ice tray within said cabinet, said tray being formedfrom sheet material and having a front wall adjacent said door providedwith a spigot for the discharge of liquid from said tray, said spigotincluding a forwardly and rearwardly slidable valve member provided withan actuating button at its front end and a valve head at its rear end,said'button abutting said door when the same is closed to preventmovement of said member and of the front wall of said tray when a massof ice within said tray presses forwardly against said valve head. a

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said actuating button is disposedwithin a front recess provided by said spigot, said button having itsfront face substantially flush with the front face of said spigot whensaid valve member is in a forward closed position.

3. A food and beverage cooler comprising a cabinet having a door, an icetray within said cabinet, said tray being formed from flexible plasticsheet material and having a vertical wall adjacent said door, said wallbeing pro- .vided with a spigot having a horizontally reciprocable valvemember, said valve member being provided with an actuating button at itsouter end engageable with said door when the same is closed, said valvemember also being provided with a valve head at its inner end disposedwithin said tray, whereby, movement of said valve memher is prevented bysaid door when a mass of ice presses outwardly against said valve head.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which said spigot also .includes a spigotbody having a bore extending horizontally theret-hrough for slidablyreceiving said valve mornber, said body being provided with an outerrecess receiv- .ing the button of said valve member, said button andbody having their outer faces substantially flush with each other whenthe valve member is in closed position.

5. A food and beverage cooler comprising a cabinet having a front doorand having top, bottom, side and rear walls, an ice tray within saidcabinet, said tray being formed from flexible plastic sheet material andhaving a front wall provided with a spigot for the discharge of liquidfrom said tray, said spigot including a forwardly and rearwardlyslidable valve member provided with an actuating button spaced in frontof the front wall of said tray and a valve head disposed within saidtray and engageable with a mass of ice contained therein, said trayengaging said rearwall of said cabinet and said button abutting saiddoor when the same is closed to prevent movement of said tray and saidvalve member when a mass of ice within said tray presses forwardlyagainst said valve head.

6. The structure of claim 5 in which said spigot also includes a spigotbody having a bore therethrough for slidably receiving said valvemember, said spigot body having a front recess receiving said button,the front faces of said button and said spigot body being substantiallyflush when said valve member is in a forward closed position.

7. The structure of claim 5 in which means are provided by said coolerfor locking said door against forward movement in response to forcesexerted by said mass of ice and transmitted by said valve member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,121,281 Bosque June 21, 1938 2,628,062 Weber Feb. 10, 1953 2,713,988Kitterman July 26, 1955 2,954,682 Klemme Oct. 4, 1960 2,982,114 Cobb etal. May 2, 196-1

1. A FOOD AND BEVERAGE COOLER COMPRISING A CABINET HAVING A FRONT DOOR,A FLEXIBLE PLASTIC ICE TRAY WITHIN SAID CABINET, SAID TRAY BEING FORMEDFROM SHEET MATERIAL AND HAVING A FRONT WALL ADJACENT SAID DOOR PROVIDEDWITH A SPIGOT FOR THE DISCHARGE OF LIQUID FROM SAID TRAY, SAID SPIGOTINCLUDING A FORWARDLY AND REARWARDLY SLIDABLE VALVE MEMBER PROVIDED WITHAN ACTUATING BUTTON AT ITS FRONT END AND A VALVE HEAD AT ITS REAR END,SAID BUTTON ABUTTING SAID